Apologies for light blogging. I returned to work today (only Monday, Thursday, and Friday, but 9-5:30 those days), and I'm a bit tired. Anyway, you can't help but love reading this Obsidian Wings masterpiece on Joe Biden's Iraq editorial and the Bush reaction--plus a few Republican commentators who got caught flat-footed.
Basically, it called for a timetable for achieving certain specific goals (including withdrawals), more support for infrastructural development, and stronger training for the Iraqi army. Nothing too fancy--pretty much what Democrats have been saying all along. And since it was Joe Biden, the GOP attack dogs quite predictably pounced, with attacks such as "clueless," "fundamentally wrong," and the moniker "slow Joe." How abashed they must have been, when Bush administration officials declared Biden's plan to be "remarkably similar" to the President's own! Oh the humanity! That makes Bush too "clueless," "fundamentally wrong," and "unfit to direct this country's foreign policy."
Democrats are having a field day. Republicans are, surprise, mostly silent (though QandO is properly ashamed of his colleagues).
So, the real question is: do the commentators stranded by their own present just ignore the inconsistency, or try to spin some convoluted explanation for why it's all okay? I can't wait to find out!
Are you writing as an idealogue or a partisan. :)
ReplyDeleteMore seriously, you need to drop the whole timetable idea and go with punchlist. With that caveat, Biden is trying to spin as a "new" Democratic plan what the WH has been pushing for years now.